I figured it was a good time to start some of my holiday shopping, though, so I walked over to the park that I had heard about from Marialisa. It was fabulous!
This park is amazing! TONS of things for kids to do, climbing spaces, paths for these fabulous little bicycle-style cars, -- I wanted one! Lots of food vendors (oh, chifles!). And the artisan market is amazing. I went through my money very quickly and as a result, now knew of two big banks that worked for my card, but also realized that F/Sa/Su constitutes a single day for cash limits. Bummer, but good for me in the end.
I also wandered a bit, and found some children's books for the new center at the museum, in indigenous language, Spanish and English. (I also found a sweet little bilingual cookbook of Ecuadorian cuisine for me!) It was definitely a day of feeling very inadequate with my language skills. However, I got what I needed -- even bargained some with my shopping, managed to eat, made my way around, so all was fine. The people in Ecuador, by and large, are incredibly kind and patient. They will also help and correct you, which is terrific. I just wanted to be able to communicate, and it was painful.
Once I was tired of wandering, I headed back to the hostel and got some good work done on the computer and on some verbs. (ALWAYS verbs.) Greg called, which was nice, and I was able to reassure him (so he could reassure all the parents) that all really was fine in Ecuador. Later I met Juan Carlos for dinner. And no tarantulas on my return home! Yes, that's right. One night earlier in the week, as I was waiting for the hostel to open the door, a saw a tarantula making its slow way across the street. I should have dug for the camera, but I was rather paralyzed by the whole thing. However, I dislike them enough to know what they look like, and despite my professor's incredulity, I know what I saw.
On Sunday we were supposed to go to Itchimbia Park for a while to hike and walk, then grab dinner at one of the mountain-side restaurants known for its sunset views of the city. Plans changed, leaving me several hours free that I wasn't expecting. But the Banco Central was supposed to have a great museum, so I figured I'd go check it out.
The round building is the Casa de la Cultura, and houses a theater where we caught some of the indigenous film festival, the theater where we saw Jacchingua, the Museo del Banco Central, etc.
Sadly, 3/5 of the galleries were closed, including the famous gold gallery. (I learned later that this gallery has been closed for several years now.) I'm not very interested in religious art (I know, surprise), but the archaeological history gallery was quite fantastic. I learned all about a number of the early cultures in Ecuador, from the Valdivia (the most ancient agricultural culture) to the Mantero-Huancavilca (a coastal community known for seafaring, spondylus shell, and cotton weaving), and from Chorrera (the culture considered the antecedent of most present cultures, known for its whistle bottles) to the Milagro-Quevedo (a culture which constructed earth pyramids and platforms to control flooding). There was also a great little model of the Cochasqui pyramids, which I actually visited during my trip two years ago. Too bad no photos were allowed.
We didn't make it to the park, but did go to Mosaico for a light dinner and the sunset. I didn't have the camera, because of the rain, but it was beautiful! Really, Quito is a lovely city to see from on high at night. The lights are just gorgeous. So a quiet weekend, but a positive one.
Now, for some observations after the first week:
✶ I spent a lot of time on buses this week, and they are quite interesting. I've decided to do a post just on public transport, they're that interesting.
✶ Police wear fatigues. I was constantly confused -- and the state of emergency didn't help this -- about whether I was looking at police or military. Then again, they were a very visible presence everywhere, and usually with machine guns. On the other hand, does three on every other corner make me feel more or less safe? I never did answer that one.
✶ Watching the little kids sell gum and beg was awful. But I'd heard enough from my friends and colleagues in the first few days to know better than to do anything to support it. Crimes like pickpocketing and theft are rampant, and sadly, the kids are often part of it. It was really hard.
✶ I expected to stick out, and even to receive a few comments. I didn't expect the frequency of whistles, calls, and hellos/holas. Someone even tried to pick me up on a bus coming back from one of my cultural programs. Rather different from DC, that's certain. A friend told me they only do it to the pretty girls, though, so I decided to take it for what it was intended to be.
✶ Not sure what I had to show for a week! I could hear myself catching some things, but overall, it was just really frustrating. First week blues.
✶ It was also hard to be on my own most of the weekend. I felt plenty secure wandering in Quito, but traveling alone as a blonde gringa.... well, I could tell that would be tough.
✶ Lots of Chinese restaurants! The cuisine is called chifa, and it is everywhere. My classmates had recommended a brick oven pizza place and a Lebanese place. There were a number of Japanese/sushi places too. But chifa everywhere. Most evenings, I just ate yogurt at the hostel - the norm is a big relaxed lunch, so I just was not very hungry in the evenings.
Week two would be more classes with Vinicio outside on the patio, and another week of cultural programs, along with a variety of excursions. Plus, I needed to figure out my travel week. Would I go to the workshop in the jungle with my friends from the organization? Would I travel with the school? TONS of options there, from hiking volcanos to living in an indigenous community, from exploring the coast to bird watching in the rainforest. How to decide?!? Stay tuned!
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